some would say i want you to look at the guy next to you and picture him raping your daughter. some of these men were in tears. she told me at that end, it is the men who were not in tears that we have to worry about. most of the men did not want to talk, especially in business jackets to had to go pick up their wives at the spot. she was an incredible woman. the advocate of the year award goes to another incredible woman. [applause] roma is a social justice activist on immigrant rights and women's rights. she directs the bay area homeless program and also teaches at the department of health and education at san francisco state university. let's give another warm welcome

to roma. >> thank you. thank you, everyone. i want to share one thing that is remarkable about today, in addition to what others have shared. i think it is absolutely inspiring that the woman's movement in 2011 in san francisco, at least, is sharing a sponsorship of policy-making endeavors and the arts. i am telling you, we have to codify and our values. we need a policy to do that. we don't just need a people's movement, we need to codify. the arts brings a heart, they

bring healing. there is not a person in here who has not been harmed or harmed themselves in some way. we have all lifived. the arts steel and inspire. -- the arts heal and inspire. i want it noted that all of us have to do this if we want to inspire our youth to keep on moving on. keep on moving on. thank you to all of you, the sponsors, the other binarhonore and most especially i feel really blessed i am the first to

be honored for this community activist board. norma was remarkable. i just want to say in the few minutes that i have what i think her message might be today. norma suffered from abuse from almost day one of her birth. until she was about 40 years old. she experienced child sexual abuse, bullying of all sorts, isolation, prison, sexual exploitation that we call prostitution, and in our religious and secular beliefs we

believe that people who have these experiences are undeserving people and are put in that category. our social services, our cultural values and honor those women who are deserving, and we do not want to invest our taxes or anything else on the undeserving. that idea is at least 2000 years old. we have a legacy to deal with. it should be shred from our psyche, and whenever you have to do it to do it, do it. it and what ever we have to do in building the women's movement, a people's movement for our brothers and sisters, help do your job of getting rid

of this cultural belief of the deserved and undeserved. it must die, even if it took us 2000 years to do it. i ask you to join all the women from this morning's workshop and today, as we have seen already spoken, that we make that commitment. normally understood this, -- norma understood this, and i think that is the central message. for those who have been harmed through sexual abuse and global exploitation, norma, threw her were feeling, not only named it but tried to resolve and helped liberate and free the women who were experiencing it. and she developed sage. the proposition of sage is, at

its core, those who suffer must feel -- must heal, and to heal we need to find each other and speak to each other as peers. and that empowerment comes through that process. and no social organization, no health plan, no school curriculum should omit the process of peer support and empowerment. that is what sage does. and from that experience, we can all than see others as peers and joined in partnerships locally and globally with compassion,

with a new idea, which is that we are all here to fill our lives, to be free, and the social policies and the culture that we want to live must be the pleasure of us all. i really feel very special that i get to say this in norma's projected voice. she left us in 2009 at the age of 58, much too early, but i know that the sage women who are here, the sage men who are here will foist this forever, and we ask you to join. thank you. [applause]

>> i also wanted to say that commissioner and i were on the health commission for, how many years, 12? and we were partners in helping to bring health the san francisco. so thank you very much, leanne. >> just a few more recognition sprint we're joined by current commissioner, signed a, -- sonya, as well as a representative from the office of nancy pelosi, the san francisco political committee. they do women's policy summit in september. for gin and harman, former director of the human rights commission, and galena --

helena. thank you so much for joining us. >> our next award goes to the unsung heroine, carol ito. she is bed a passionate advocate for women of all levels of the community. she was one of the founding members of the national asian pacific women's movement in the late 1970's, which resulted in the development of the local bay area group, pacific asian american women. the have been running 30 years. she recently completed three terms as a san francisco airport commissioner. please join me in welcoming carol ito. [applause] >> thank you. i am very humbled this afternoon to join all of you.

i want to thank shelly's committee and everyone who made this happen. i am honored to share many of these honors. many of us have work together for the various causes and policy changes for this great city. i must say that there are many unsung heroines in this room, and my guests at table three are many of my own personal friends and supporters to keep me honest, keep the focus, and make it really very special and important to do what i do. i have got a lot of guidance and support from these women. for those of you who have not met them, please, after lunch, these are the women who make up a big part of my life. i think what is also important is that we need to support each other and with each other up.

but i would also like to acknowledge, a former khmer brown's daughter is still here, never publicly think your father. he appointed me to the airport commission 12 years ago, and at that time there were not a lot of women voices on the commission. we on the commission at that time decided we had a lot of good training ground as to how to work with the city and make policy changes. as many of you commissioners out there know, we don't get a lot of training how to behave, what our role is. we get ethics training, but beyond that, how people function and are effective on our local commission, it is kind of like being a parent. you don't get trained, and that is how i feel, my perception about commission work in this

city. i feel that mayor brown gave me an opportunity with the nine years i had as a commissioner prior, what i could do for the city to work with what was one of the male dominated departments, airport, and provide hopefully a level playing field for everybody wanted to work there. i like to thank mayor brown for that opportunity, because i think 12 years ago there were not many of us on those revenue generating departments that could participate in some major policy decisions and contracts that run this city. i want you to please have that thank you extended to your dad. this morning, i sat in on the workshops and i was very encouraged. a lot of people like roma were there, people we have all work

together at various points in our lives the last 20 years, but there were also a lot of new faces, young faces, and it is encouraging that our city has so many dedicated women were willing to spend the time, volunteer time for the most part, to make this city one of the greatest leaders for women's issues and rights and equality. i think we have proven that. i am very encouraged that perhaps in the next four, five years we will get ahead in terms of our own country stepping up to the plate. thank you again, and thank you, shelly. [applause] >> i want to also make sure i acknowledge another person on our committee, and that is nancy acknowledge

someone else on the committee. she is in the mayor's office and she made things happen for us. thank you. >> and the extraordinary public service award goes to supervisor maxwell. she is a native of san francisco, and she was elected to the board in 2001. she served until 2011. this affected everything from land use, to children and families. including a residential water conservation ordinance. congratulations, supervisor maxwell. >> good afternoon, everybody. this is me. people have been asking me, what are you doing now? i am thinking about things that i want to think about. you take it for granted, but i

don't anymore. i want to thank the status of women, and all of you. i want to thank all of the people that are in this room that worked with me. thank you, it is collective leadership. you're certainly a part of my team. thank you all. [applause] >> i asked if i could do this one because it is pretty darn important to me. this is the community leadership

award. she was a young woman from hunters point that said, most kids in this community who don't believe they will live to see their twenty fifth birthday. she was gunned down at the age of 23, celebrating her twenty third birthday. she was an awesome young woman. she got into a little trouble and had to do the ankle bracelet time. as she was going to city college, she fell in love with education, and decided that she wanted to be an attorney connected with our attorney general. they are kind of mentoring heard. they lost in the energy in

bayview. as we did the one this year, i wanted to give it to someone. last year, it went to the bart board representative. this year, i am giving it to a young woman that i just think was awesome. at the age of 14, she opened her own dance studio because she liked to teach kids in the community how to dance. she brought them into the backyard. at 14, she became a business owner while she was going to school. at the age of 16, she graduated from high school. i am bringing to you today an

incredible one and that is a fourth grade teacher. i am telling you what she told me, ladies. she wants to one day be the secretary of education for the united states of america. [applause] 20 years old. >> how do i follow such a beautiful introduction? he uses me as his instrument that shows me -- and chose me. i knew she is looking down and saying, my god, thank you for

using me as your instrument. what got does, not does see how -- and not just hdoes he traded instrument, he supports it to the fullest extent. all across the state, in a poor neighborhood, you spotted me and i thank you. this wonderful opportunity will open up more doors and that children that i serve. i believe that god uses me to continue to empower others. let's also give another warm round of applause. [applause]

>> i am here to accept a wonderful honor. because of the instrument and having wonderful parents that supported the spiritually, financially, since those a little girl and i believed i could make my dream become a reality. today, my dear mother is your to see me receive this. and to continue to support me because my mother knows that it takes a village to raise a child. there is another mother presenting me with this award. she flew here today, and i think you from the bottom of my heart for all of your support.

[applause] i wanted to share some words of wisdom, some insights. i believe that it takes all of us working together to plant seeds that would bloom and flourish forever. god did that on purpose, just like in this room. together, we are planting seeds. the youth that will bloom and flourish forever. on behalf of my nonprofit, which works with youth who empower them through dance, performing arts, the hip-hop.

we let them know where the roots come from. africa. we see ballet to name a few. in addition to the performing arts, we offer brotherhood and sisterhood programs. for the boys, it is had a cross between boy scouts and fraternities. they teach self-esteem, and we present our children yearly in a debutante ball. this is the third annual debutante ball, and in three years, we have served over 60 children. coupled with 20 boys from the princess club. our final aspect which the educational enrichment.

it was essential that we do not leave that aspect out coupled with education. everything i say will go into one year and out the other. we bring the dance, the arts and education. we used the instrument of version, change the words of. the turn that into what they used as a study mechanisms. i am proud to say that with the program i have used, and he was

an academy for young scientists. to give you a quick demonstration of what that might sound like, it goes like this. parts of speech you are all easy, and just sing with me. parts of speech are all easy, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, prepositions. conjunctions. a noun is a person, place, fang, or idea. like barack obama is a person.

academy is in place. a little puppy is a thing. then you have a pronoun replaces a noun. like i, you, he, she, it, you, hey, you all, they. hopefully -- [applause] thank you. today, as i leave, i will leave with beautiful ideas and action plans. i started them with the support of my wonderful mother. it is something that is essential to making a program flourished. you need to support. all of that combined, i hope i

get the chance to meet each of you today. and be able to go back knowing that i am going to take back support. i can tell you what, as a result of this conference i was able to further advance. the use of my community can grow up someday to be greater than who i am. if they have me entering them, sky is not even their lead. i hope to see the rest of you at the summit. [applause]

>> last but not least, we have the spirit of a quality award. [applause] he was nominated by president obama to be assistant secretary of fair housing and equal opportunity in april of 2009. john is a native san franciscan. congratulations, john.

>> it is an honor to be here. they are right on time. i just want to say it is a real honor to be with all of you celebrating the one hundredth anniversary, also coming up, the one hundredth anniversary. it was the dawning of government getting involved. it was the worst industrial accident. whether it is worker safety or -- it is great to be in the city of dynamic women. the former speaker, nancy pelosi. [applause]

in my own family, my mom can't be here today, but my family is well represented by my sisters. the head of our affair house and office right here in san francisco. because time is limited, there are a number of things we are doing to advance equality for women. i could talk about the work we're doing defending women that are denied loans by lending institutions. there are 22 cases around the country where women are denied loans because the lenders think they have no income because they are on maternity leave. we're close to resolving a nationwide case in that regard. defending the woman who was evicted for adopting a child. she